The idea of ‘talk types’ is loosely related to Cooperative learning group roles, though the functions described in ‘talk types’ are less based on leadership skills, and more based on communication skills: both of which are vital in any workforce. There are six talk types that your students can use as a supplement to their

During your course, it’s always good to get to know your students. In a class of 24 students, you can do this activity to start your first 50-minute session and end your second 50-minute session. It’s quite simple. For each of these sessions, one student shows two to three artifacts that are personally important to

Gallery walk is a highly participatory activity that can be used under a range of circumstances, and is especially good to do in a physical classroom setting. However, it’s easy to adapt to an online version using Nearpod’s slide upload feature, or to just convert slides into a single PDF file to download for each

Check Point is a variation on something called “Fist-to-Five”. I’ve removed the fist (zero fingers) but you can always add it in if you like. This is also referred to as a “hinge point” activity. This is a simple check-in activity to give your learners a chance to stop and reflect on their metacognitive state,

Think-Pair-Share (TPS) is the Swiss Army Knife of activities.  This can, and should, be used often in your class. In the first step, because learners need time to process information on their own, you need to allot some time for them to think about your challenge. It can be a one-minute thinking period, or it can

The One-Minute Essay is an easy to implement reflective moment that can be done at pretty much any time you like. Since it’s only a minute long, it could be used at the beginning of a lesson to have learners anticipate what they are about to experience. It could be used directly after a short